Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

This group of people had clearly learned about what happened in Orthodoxy Temple on their way here and at this moment, they were scowling with solemn expressions. When they heard the sound of something slicing through the air, they turned to look in the direction and Wen Zi Shan muttered, "Yang Kai is here."

It was not Lei Hong and Xue Zheng Mao's first time meeting Yang Kai as they had met each other before when the latter went to Star Soul Palace to enter the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, but at this moment, they were feeling rather astonished. If Xiao Yu Yang had not told them everything in advance, they would not have believed that Yang Kai had single-handedly resolved the entire Orthodoxy Temple incident.

He was able to gather so many reinforcements in a single day; moreover, he was capable of arranging a Cross-Territory Space Array. A talent like him was simply blinding. Thinking back on it, Lei Hong and Xue Zheng Mao paid no attention to him when he entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda at Star Soul Palace; however, they now had to regard him as an equal.

"Temple Master, Holy Master Ma, Golden Envoy Xiao…" Yang Kai landed and greeted them, one by one. Then, he bowed to Lei Hong and Xue Zheng Mao in greeting.

Lei Hong and Xue Zheng Mao exchanged a glance with each other before they both bowed so low that their backs were almost parallel to the ground, "Elder Yang, you turned the tide and rescued many of our fellow Southern Territory cultivators from a great catastrophe. We of Star Soul Palace are extremely grateful to you."

Protecting the Southern Territory was Star Soul Palace's responsibility, but they never imagined that they would be completely oblivious to a conspiracy of this scale going on inside Orthodoxy Temple. Their ignorance resulted in heavy casualties across the Southern Territory and it was a huge blow to the prestige and reputation of Star Soul Palace. If the conspiracy at Orthodoxy Temple had succeeded, however, it wouldn't just end with Star Soul Palace losing face, it could have shaken the very foundation of the Southern Territory. For that reason, their gratitude at this moment was extremely sincere.

Yang Kai raised his hand to stop them, "Please, you are being too polite. I was only doing what I should have done."

Sighing, he continued, "It's a pity that everything happened so suddenly and I couldn't react swiftly enough, or the Southern Territory would not have suffered such great losses. I am truly ashamed."

Xue Zheng Mao shook his head in response, "If it wasn't for Elder Yang, the Southern Territory would have been in far greater trouble. It's all thanks to you that so many people survived this ordeal."

Yang Kai smiled modestly, "It's thanks to some friends I know; I don't dare take credit for it."

Xue Zheng Mao and Lei Hong fell silent. They used to look down on Yang Kai in the past. They had not liked him or taken him seriously the last time he visited Star Soul Palace because another Elder of Star Soul Palace, Tan Jun Hao, had died at his hands. Regardless of whether Tan Jun Hao was guilty of committing a crime or not, he was still an Elder of Star Soul Palace and had close ties with both of them. Therefore, Yang Kai's act of killing Tan Jun Hao was equivalent to insulting Star Soul Palace. Although the Great Emperor had been tolerant and did not hold this act against Yang Kai, Xue Zheng Mao and Lei Hong had been unable to let it go. They had always secretly despised Yang Kai for what he had done. It wasn't until today that their impression of him changed for the better. He was neither arrogant nor ill-natured despite his astonishing means and strength. It was no wonder he could advance so much faster and farther than his peers.

"Is everyone from Star Soul Palace here?" Yang Kai glanced at a group of people standing not far away. Emperor Realm Masters were abundant among them, at least a hundred in total. With so many Emperor Realm Masters present, it was clear that they did not solely belong to Star Soul Palace and were probably gathered from a number of other Sects as well.

Xue Zheng Mao looked ashamed as he replied, "When we heard the news, we travelled day and night to reach this place as fast as possible while along the way summoning up all those from other Sects we could. Unfortunately, we were still one step too late." The main reason was that Star Soul Palace was too far away from this place; moreover, the person who went to report the news had also taken several days to arrive at Star Soul Palace which was why they only arrived now.

Upon arrival though, they learned that the matter had been resolved and they had rushed here for nothing. Nevertheless, they couldn't just return home empty-handed like that. It was true that Orthodoxy Temple's conspiracy had been foiled, but the incident this time had to be investigated thoroughly.

"Where is the Great Emperor?" Yang Kai asked suspiciously. He saw neither hide nor hair of the Great Emperor anywhere. Logically speaking, such a major event would warrant the Great Emperor making an appearance personally. Yang Kai sent somebody to report to Star Soul Palace in hopes that the Great Emperor himself would show up. As long as Bright Moon Great Emperor came, Lei Gu's plans would not have stood a chance whatsoever.

As soon as those words left Yang Kai's mouth though, Wen Zi Shan and Ma Qing also showed doubtful expressions, with the latter asking, "That's right. Why don't we see the Great Emperor?"

Xue Zheng Mao replied, "When the Great Emperor heard that everything had been resolved, he immediately returned to Star Soul Palace."

Everybody felt a little speechless at those words. [If you're already here, then why didn't you come and check on the situation? It's not like this is a trivial matter. Don't you think you should see it for yourself? But, the Great Emperor actually turned back halfway… How odd of him.]

Even if they thought so, since this was related to the Great Emperor, nobody dared to say anything.

Yang Kai casually asked, "Did Princess Lan Xun not come along?"

Lei Hong answered, "Her Highness is currently in retreat, but thank you for your concern, Elder Yang."

Yang Kai made a non-committal sound in response.

Xue Zheng Mao added, "Although the Great Emperor did not come, the Great Elder and I will be enough to handle things here now. There are some things we would like to ask you, Brother Yang."

He quietly changed the way he addressed Yang Kai to 'Brother Yang', which showed how much warmer he was towards him now.

Yang Kai cupped his fists, "Elder Xue, please ask anything you want. I will explain to the best of my ability."

Xue Zheng Mao nodded and said, "We've heard the general story from Elder Xiao, but we are clueless about what happened on your end. If you don't mind telling us, Brother Yang…"

Yang Kai smiled slightly, "Good, it's like this. During the banquet on the last day of the Martial Gathering, I suddenly received a thought message from Luo Chen of Azure Sun Temple asking me to go somewhere with him…"

He then briefly recounted the story of how he was led outside by Luo Chen without hiding anything, including the fact that he had been ambushed and nearly assassinated.

"In fact, there's something I want to ask you." Yang Kai frowned deeply, still unable to shake the lingering sense of fear that remained whenever he recalled the events of that night.

Xue Zheng Mao seemed pensive, "What is it?"

Yang Kai said, "The person who tried to assassinate me that night was far too skilled. I didn't even notice him when he was standing right behind me. Furthermore, he became even more elusive after I counterattacked. His body dissipated into a cloud of smoke, and he was completely unaffected by brute force. Somebody like that can't be completely unheard of. I wonder if any of you have any impression of somebody like that in the Southern Territory.

If anything had slipped through the cracks during this incident, it was the assassin that had attacked him. Yang Kai had been severely injured by this person, yet he never even caught a glimpse of that person's face. He couldn't even tell if that person was a man or woman. He had truly suffered a great loss this time; however, he was certain that that person was a Third-Order Emperor. Moreover, that person was well versed in the art of assassination. He even suspected that that person was one of those existences who was almost a Great Emperor that Yang Yan mentioned to him.

According to Yang Yan, there were a few old monsters in this world that had reached the limits of their cultivation and could not improve any further. They were stuck at a bottleneck, unable to become Great Emperors due to the limits of the world. Most of these people lived in seclusion or quietly immersed themselves in their cultivation, rarely showing themselves. It would make sense if the person who attacked Yang Kai had been a Master like that. It was just that Yang Kai did not sense any Demon Qi coming from that person. In other words, that person was not acting under the influence of demonification, so why were they colluding with Orthodoxy Temple?

Everybody frowned when they heard those words with Ma Qing being the first to speak up, "Such methods are truly unheard of."

He turned to look at Wen Zi Shan, "Do you have any ideas?"

Similarly, Wen Zi Shan shook his head slowly.

Xue Zheng Mao on the other hand suggested, "Perhaps… it was not done by someone from the Southern Territory."

Lei Hong looked shocked and muttered, "You don't mean…"

Yang Kai looked at them and frowned, "Do you two have some sort of idea?"

Xue Zheng Mao pondered in silence for a long while before he explained, "Such a mysterious and powerful assassination technique cannot be cultivated overnight. As far as I know, there is only one place in this world that can produce someone like that."

Upon hearing those words, Ma Qing and Wen Zi Shan seemed to think of something too and were dumbfounded as a result, "That's impossible… isn't it?"

Likewise, Yang Kai realized what they were suggesting, "Elder Xue, you are talking about the West…"

Xue Zheng Mao immediately raised his hand to stop Yang Kai, "We shouldn't jump to conclusions without any evidence."

Yang Kai understood what Xue Zheng Mao was worried about, so he dropped the topic. Nevertheless, it seemed quite possible now that he had been reminded of that place. The assassination techniques used by that person were extraordinary, and most ordinary people were incapable of even possessing such ability.

A cultivator in the Third-Order Emperor Realm who was proficient in assassination; all these signs were pointing to that specific force. But… why would they involve themselves in the affairs of the Southern Territory? Not to mention, they were colluding with the Demons too.

Lei Hong furrowed his brow, "It shouldn't be them. That place is located in an entirely different Territory. Why would they do this?"

"Let's leave this matter aside for now. Pay more attention to what you say in the future and don't let your guard down either. Brother Yang, you were lucky to escape alive. If that person had targeted anyone else with such intent…" Xue Zheng Mao shuddered and did not finish his own sentence.

An enemy hidden in the dark was the most terrifying kind. The person who ambushed Yang Kai had been extremely proficient in the art of assassination, and if the target had been anyone other than Yang Kai, then they would have a hard time falling asleep at night. Be that as it may, the other Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters believed that they could handle it since even Yang Kai managed to escape from that person alive. The only problem was… just because they would be okay did not mean their fellow Sect members would be as lucky. After all, how many Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters were there?

There were simply too few clues. Yang Kai had only fought with that person for a brief moment and couldn't be sure if they were man or woman, so what clues could they go on?

Next, Yang Kai talked about what happened after the assassination attempt. The others were incredibly amazed upon confirming that he was capable of arranging Cross-Territory Space Arrays. Although they had investigated the Space Array before coming here, a conjecture was not the same as verifying the truth. It was thanks to that Space Array that Yang Kai managed to gather so many reinforcements within a day and save those trapped in Orthodoxy Temple.

The situation Yang Kai described was not that different from what Xiao Yu Yang and the others already knew. The only difference was that they had been unaware of what he personally experienced. When they learned that he had gone to the Southern Swamp with Lei Gu and even managed to set up a trap to kill Lei Gu, they sighed in amazement again.

There were not many Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in any one place, so most had built up some degree of friendship with each other. Hearing that Lei Gu had been possessed by a Demon Spirit, lost his conscious mind and autonomy, and eventually suffered a tragic end naturally made them feel a bit sad inside.

The next step was to deal with the survivors of the major Sects in the Southern Territory. With time, what happened in this place gradually spread to the entire Southern Territory. The Masters guarding their respective Sects rushed to Orthodoxy Temple upon receiving the news to get a better grasp of the situation and confirm the number of casualties they suffered. For that reason, people were entering and exiting Orthodoxy Temple every day. In less than 10 days, Orthodoxy Temple became peaceful again as those that could leave had left.

The Southern Territory would probably be stuck in a period of recovery for a long time after this incident.